In a next generation network or an all-Internet protocol (IP) network, a number of services and various access technologies are combined or consolidated to provide new services and improve existing services. In addition, the integration of various services and technologies, such as the integration of wired and wireless communication and the integration of broadcasting and communication, is expected for new services.
For the integration of services and technologies, various communication technologies must be integrated. For example, integration of 802.3 Ethernet communication technology with 802.11 wireless local area network (LAN) communication technology, integration of wireless LAN with a code division multiple access (CDMA) technology, or integration of wireless LAN, CDMA technology, and wireless broadband (WiBro) is increasingly required. To apply the various access technologies to a terminal requires the modification of mobility supporting technologies, including a mobile IP that is developed for a mobile terminal having a single network interface using the existing single access technology. As nodes emerge with multiple network interfaces using various access technologies for providing new concept services and seamless network connection services, it becomes difficult to use the mobility supporting technology used in nodes having the existing single network interface.
The existing mobile Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6) guarantees the mobility of the terminal using a single home address (HoA) and a single care-of address (CoA). The HoA is an address that is initially allocated to the mobile terminal and is not changed. The CoA is an address that is used for routing toward an area to which the mobile moves, and is used by an external network. However, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is developing a study of guaranteeing Internet connectivity, reliability, or load balancing of the terminal using a plurality of CoAs instead of a single CoA.
Accordingly, a new mechanism for processing a plurality of the CoAs in the mobile terminal using a virtual interface for multiple network interfaces is needed.